


May Your Path Be the Sound

by faintwalker



Category: Itsuwaribito Utsuho
Genre: Gen, Minor canonical character death, More tags to be added, Utsuho is Twelve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25475485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faintwalker/pseuds/faintwalker
Summary: Iriya comes to the village five years earlier, and Utsuho takes to the road at age twelve.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), to be added
Kudos: 2





	May Your Path Be the Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the volume five bonus manga. I thought about it too much one day, and before I knew it I had an entire au.

A month and a half after Tenka leaves the village, the whole place goes up in flames. Utsuho can’t believe he ever thought the new kid might be sort of cool.

“Hey, Iriya!” he yells, once the bandits behind him have run far enough away from the building with Gramps. “Check this out!”

Iriya wastes his response time saying, “Whoa, Azako, what’s that? Are you telling me you have an actual bom--?”

The blast is a lot bigger than Utsuho meant it to be, because he’s still a novice in the field of crafting explosives. Utsuho had wanted to finish this project in time to show Tenka, but now he’s glad his friend got adopted when he did. The force of it sends Utsuho flying, rolling bumpily until he braces to a halt on skinned elbows. His right arm feels like fire, and Utsuho can’t tell if he still has eyebrows. There isn’t hair in his eyes, so he probably does, but he still panics about his hearing until the ringing in his ears dies down with a _pop._

Clambering shakily to his feet, he turns to survey the crater. Nothing else is moving much. His heart shakes his whole chest with its frantic pumping, and he has to lick his lips and swallow three times before he can speak.

“Good riddance,” he rasps. “I was planning to share that with someone I _cared_ about.”

Everything keeps not moving, so Utsuho steadies his breath and walks on trembling legs back over to Gramps. He tries not to look too hard at anything until he gets back inside. There are bodies everywhere, _human_ bodies, and some of them are his fault. 

Gramps is still breathing, but there is an alarming bubbling in it. Utsuho can tell right away that it’s a bad sign. Blood is everywhere.

“Gramps? Hey Gramps, are you with me?” says Utsuho. His voice is a bit wobbly, maybe, but he isn’t panicking. He’s going to hold it together a bit longer, because Gramps is alive and needs him.

Gramps coughs weakly and says, “Utsuho? Is that you?”

Utsuho grabs the hand Gramps tries to push himself up with and pretends he can ignore how slick it feels in his grip.

“Yeah, Gramps, it’s me,” says Utsuho. “It’s okay now; the bandits are gone. They won’t come back. You just hold tight while I fetch a doctor, okay? Don’t try to move.”

“They’re gone…? That’s good,” Gramps says. “I’m glad you’re safe. Hurry after the others, will you? I’ll be fine.”

“Of course. I’ll be back with the doctor before you know it,” says Utsuho, smiling really hard so Gramps will hear it in his speech. After giving Gramps’s hand one last firm squeeze, he takes off running.

His sandals are sticky enough to distract from the pain in his arm, but dust from the path eventually solves that problem. The burning reminds him of his urgency, spiking with each step until his senses start to noticeably dull. He swipes at his tears with his left arm, pushing onward with a raw throat and protesting ankles. One mountain over, he encounters the investigation team the neighboring village sent when residents grew concerned by the smoke.

He screams at them to hurry. The doctor and some men rush ahead. None of them get there fast enough.


End file.
